This invention relates to strikers for vehicle closure latches and more particularly to a vehicle closure latch striker of the loop type.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,756,563 granted to Stephen K. Garwood and Jeffrey L. Konchan Jul. 12, 1988 is incorporated in this patent specification by reference. This patent discloses a vehicle door latch 10 that includes a rotatable fork bolt 58 that cooperates with a loop type striker 144. The striker 144 includes a pair of legs 146 which are secured in a conventional manner, such as heading over, to a mounting plate 148. The bight portion of the striker is partially flattened on opposites sides and a plastic wedge 154 is molded to the bight portion 150 in a conventional molding operation. As the vehicle door is closed, the leading leg 146 of the striker 144 engages the trailing or outboard edge of the throat 86 of the fork bolt 58 and rotates it to a latched position Where the leading leg 146 of the striker 144 is trapped within the throat 86 as shown in FIG. 1 of the patent. In the latched position, the metal bight portion 150 and the molded over plastic wedge 154 fit behind the fork bolt 58 in a wedge shaped slot formed by metal plate 160 and wall 162. There is a substantial portion of the metal bight portion 150 behind the metal fork bolt 58 on the inboard side of the trapped striker leg 146. However, there is little if any portion of the metal bight portion 150 behind the metal fork bolt 58 on the outboard side of the trapped striker leg 146 when the fork bolt 58 is the latched position.
General Motors Corporation, assignee of the above patent, has also manufactured the patented door latch with a plastic coated fork bolt and a cooperating loop type striker having a metal wedge. In this modification, there is at best still an insignificant portion of the metal wedge behind the metal insert of the fork bolt on the outboard side of the trapped striker leg when the fork bolt is in the latched position. This modification is discussed further in the detailed description of the invention.
In side intrusion testing according to federal motor vehicle safety standard (FMVSS) 214, the end of the vehicle door and the door latch attached to it on certain vehicles, tend to pivot about a vertical axis while the door pillar and the striker attached to it tend to remain stationary due to the construction of the door and the door pillar. In such a situation, the fork bolt tends to walk around the corner at the end of a trapped leg of a loop type striker so that the integrity of the door latch system depends upon the lateral strength of the door latch system.
Every door latch system has a lateral strength and a longitudinal strength. The lateral strength is the resistance of the door latch system to being pulled apart in a lateral or side-wise direction of the trapped striker leg. The longitudinal strength on the other hand is the resistance of the door latch system to being pulled apart in a longitudinal or length-side direction of the trapped striker leg. The longitudinal strength of a given door latch system is generally greater than its lateral strength.
One way to achieve increased strength of the door latch system in the above situation where the fork bolt tends to walk around the corner of a loop type striker is to increase the gauge of the metal used in the weaker parts of the door latch system to increase the lateral strength of the door latch system. A drawback to this solution is that it may increase space requirements and/or manufacturing costs in a significant way.